1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the internal structure of a camera and, more particularly, to the positioning of electronic components in the camera on a printed board adjacent to a viewfinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
For compact cameras, it is desirable to make the camera body small and compact for ease of carrying and handling. To accomplish this, the layout of the various electronic components incorporated within the camera body must be compact and efficient.
The internal structure of a prior art camera is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A lens barrel 101 is located in the center of the camera body. A film cartridge chamber 102 and a film windup chamber 103 are located on either side of the lens barrel 101. Film 105 inserted in the film cartridge chamber 102 is wound in the film windup chamber 103. A viewfinder 106 and a strobe light generating unit 107 are located above the film cartridge chamber 102. A printed board 109 is located above the film windup chamber 103. As seen in FIGS. 5 and 6, the viewfinder 106 includes an objective lens 106a having an optical axis A and an eyepiece lens 106c having an optical axis B. The optical axis A of the objective lens 106a and the optical axis B of the eyepiece lens 106c are offset in the film forwarding direction creating a comparatively large space 108 within the camera body. The strobe light generating unit 107 and other comparatively large components are located in the offset space 108.
A printed board 109 having electrical components 110 mounted thereon is positioned to avoid extending to an upper portion of the viewfinder 106 and to reduce the overall height of the camera. However, even if the printed board 109 extends to the upper portion of the viewfinder 106, the electrical components 110 disposed on the printed board 109 are not located between the printed board 109 and the viewfinder 106 such that the height of the camera is reduced. Specifically, the electrical components 110 mounted on the printed board 109 are disposed in a space within the camera which is allocated for their exclusive use.
In the prior art camera, when the space created by the offset portion of the viewfinder 106 is not large enough to position the components located within the camera, the space remains empty unutilized space. Furthermore, since the space for mounting electrical components 110 is a space allocated for their exclusive use, not only is the space created by the offset portion of the viewfinder 106 not utilized, but the disposition of further space for the exclusive use of mounted components results in a large size camera.